Re: 'FUESD fights ruling that teacher be retained' [Village News, 9/1/22]

I write on behalf of the Fallbrook Union Elementary School District.

The very first sentence of your Sept. 1, 2022, article, “FUESD fights ruling that teacher be retained,” is grossly inaccurate and misleading. Sadly, the rest of the article (which is only accessible to subscribers) does little to clarify the initial sting of inaccuracy and unnecessarily spreads disinformation. Immediate retraction is necessary.

As set forth in the public commission decision, at the start of last school year in violation of State law and FUESD policy, the teacher refused to get vaccinated or tested. The refusal to do either occurred at a time when COVID-19 was raging in the FUESD community and across California.

Your inaccurate and misleading article wrongly accuses FUESD of requiring both vaccination and testing. FUESD was only requiring one or the other, which was in full compliance with State law. The headline, “CPC says dismissal for refusing vaccine/testing should be reversed,” is equally inaccurate and misleading.

Also, while the article relies on a statement provided by the teacher, Mr. Monroe never even attempted to contact FUESD to comment on this story.

Please retract this story immediately, get the facts right and strive for balanced reporting! The first sentence of the article should be immediately corrected to read, “An unvaccinated third grade teacher’s dismissal for not being vaccinated for COVID-19 and refusing to adhere to weekly testing was reversed this summer…” The headline should also be corrected to read: “FUESD fights ruling that unvaccinated teacher who refused to adhere to weekly testing be retained.” Sadly, your article misleads the community, wrongly accuses FUESD and ignores the State’s requirement of vaccination or testing.

Brian Morris, Assistant Superintendent

Jonathan Pearl, Attorney, Dannis Woliver Kelley